Bowls can be played all-year round. In summer bowls is generally played outdoors on a flat green (lawn bowls) or sloping green (crown green bowls) but in winter it is played indoors. Indoor bowling has two main forms – long-mat and short-mat.

Short-mat bowls in Welburn village hall, North Yorkshire

Long-mat bowls (or indoor bowls) requires special facilities such as those provided at Ryedale Indoor Bowls Club, located in Norton on Derwent, Malton.

Short-mat bowls requires a suitable carpet but can be played in any hall of sufficient length and width. Thus, for example, short-mat bowls clubs often use the local village hall. There are two leagues operating in the Ryedale area – the Ryedale League (RL) and Dales League (DL). Local short-mat clubs (with the leagues they play in) include:

BSA (Swinton)                     DL
Helmsley                              DL, RL
Kirby Misperton                 RL
Kirkbymoorside                 DL, RL
Marton                                  DL
Thornton le Dale                DL, RL
St Cuthberts (Crayke)         RL
Welburn                               RL
Wintringham                      –
Yedingham                          –

More information about short mat bowls here and elsewhere in North Yorkshire can be found on website www.nysmba.com

Outdoor or Lawn Green Bowls

Enjoying early summer sunshine in lawn green bowls

There are four leagues in which local clubs participate:

Batagas (BT): Triples, Monday and Friday evening
Hovingham (HF): Fours, Tuesday and Thursday evening
Huby (HT): Triples, Tuesday and Thursday evening
Ryedale Vets (RV): Triples, Wednesday afternoon (For older players)

Local Lawn Green bowls clubs (and the leagues in which the play) include:

Easingwold           BT, HT, RV
Harome                 HT, RV
Helmsley               BT, HF, RV
Heslerton              BT
Hovingham           BT, HT
Huby                       HT, RV
Hutton le Hole      HT, RV
Kirkbymoorside   BT, HF, RV
Malton                    BT, RV        (website: www.maltonbowlsclub.org )
Pickering                BT, HF, RV
Sessay                     HF
Settrington             BT, HF
Sheriff Hutton       RV
Slingsby                   BT, RV
Stillington               HF
Strensall                  BT, RV
Swinton                   BT, HF, RV
Terrington              BT, HT
Thirsk Athletic       HF
Welham (Norton on Derwent)        BT, HF, RV
Wiggington              BT, HT, RV

More details about these clubs can be found on the League websites:
Batagas League: www.batagasbowls.wordpress.com
Hovingham League: https://www.hugofox.com/community/hovingham-district-bowls-league-13468/contact/
Huby League:
Ryedale Vets League: https://ryedaledistrictveteransbowlsleague.wordpress.com

This page will be used to provide more details of other bowling activity within Ryedale and the Norton-Malton area of North Yorkshire. Many details about bowls activities in Ryedale can be found here